Holiday Yol: features and history

Yol roots go back to ancient paganism, during many centuries of history, many additional names appeared. This day, except for the holiday Yol, is also called the festival of Kostrov. On special sites outside the city and on its outskirts, people burn huge bonfires, in which they destroy all their troubles and misfortunes along with old unnecessary objects, garbage. In the new year they are traditionally updated. In the holiday this is still a lot of interesting, we will get acquainted in more detail.

Jol - a holiday of the winter solstice

The word "yol" was in the course of the Vikings, the Germans, it means "wheel". The Celtic holiday of the winter solstice is very similar to our traditions with our Christmas Eve and Christmas. Many are interested in the question of what type of holiday (holiday) in Iceland. The holiday is celebrated for 13 days. His date falls on the eve of the winter solstice on December 22. It captures the Christian Christmas. Two of these holidays have long been intertwined with each other, the richer traditions and rituals of celebration. In Iceland, Yulem is called the Christmas holiday, which is celebrated in the west on December 25. Earlier, Jol was a pagan holiday in the middle of the northern winter, he left to the second plan after the baptism of the northern peoples. Rituals and traditions migrated from one holiday to another, and this is easily seen in Iceland. People go to church services, worship biblical characters, but completely believe in the existence of ancient trolls and mystical power, which wakes up on the longest night on the Yule holiday.

Iceland

Iceland is a wonderful country. It is here that the flame of volcanoes and eternal glaciers coexist. A normal summer in our concept is not there, but winter for these latitudes is very warm. In the hot springs the swimming season does not stop year round. The inhabitants of this area do not have names, there are no railways in the country. But it is in these parts there is a great chance to admire the summer whales, and in winter - the northern polar lights.

And in this country, as nowhere else, the oldest traditions are preserved, which the Vikings brought here more than a thousand years ago. The purity of the Icelandic language is fought by the whole population, because it is so similar to the Old Norse. And this makes it possible even to read medieval sagas without translation. Such an amazing country. And from those very ancient times, and carries its history of Jol - a holiday in Iceland.

Folklore

In the traditions of the celebration, there is necessarily a Christmas tree, which, like us, dresses up, as with various ornaments, symbolizing prosperity in the house. With "yolkoy" everything is clear, but other folklore traditions are very curious. Yol - a holiday of the middle of winter, and it is at this time people are waiting for a variety of dangers. The most mysterious stories tell about this. Dangers from mystical forces and trolls emerge, the main one of them is Gril's ogre. The giantess descends from the icy mountains these days , taking with her a large sack. In it, she collects her favorite delicacy - disobedient and lazy children. The Church of Iceland disapproved of such "scarecrows" during the Merry Christmas and even issued prohibitory decrees on this matter. But this did not prevent the Griele and her trolls from surviving to the present day. The people at Grila are very curious, she lives with her third lazy husband, whose name is Leppaludi (which became with the first two, the story is silent). For people, Leppaludi does not pose a danger; he is very sluggish and lazy.

Yolsky guys

A small, sympathetic couple has thirteen sons who are called Yolsky guys, or brothers. In the Vikings, they were considered terrible monsters, but eventually turned into harmless petty thieves and pranksters. Now (progress is obvious!) They compete with Santa Claus himself. The last so until now and did not become popular in Iceland. The idea of a good Santa, who gives gifts to all people for Christmas, fell in love with the Yolsky guys, they got better. On the model of Santa, they now wear white beards, they can put on red coats, but often appear in peasant suits. In each house, the attributes of Icelandic Christmas are the figures of these guys. By tradition, the brothers retained the funny names of Kolbasny Vorishka, Gorshkoliz, Obshchayka and others.

Yol - a holiday, the date of which falls just on Christmas Day, is celebrated thirteen days. In each of these days, guys come down from the mountains. Icelandic children receive more than one gift, like others from Santa Claus, but as many as thirteen - from each of the Yolsk boys. You can only envy. Of course, we are talking only about obedient children, mischievous people can find in their boots a rotten beet or a piece of coal.

Yolsk cat

The most colorful character of the holiday is, of course, the Yolsky cat. He lives in the Grila family in the mountains in an ice cave. The cat does not look like our pets at all. This huge terrible monster with fangs and claws catches those who remained without a woolen new thing for the holiday. Trusting the legends, at best a person will lose Christmas dinner, well, at worst the cat will drag his children, and himself to the cave. This legend arose a long time ago, when sheep were sheared and by the winter all the wool had to be processed. Holiday Yale falls just in the middle of winter. Good workers at this time already had new woolen clothes, but the lazy fell into the paws of the Yola cat. Tradition has reached our days. At Christmas, the Yolsky holidays are always made to give gifts of wool, whether it's socks or just mittens. The idea is beautiful, all gifts are happy in this northern country.

Ritual fires

Yol is a holiday, the rituals of which the people of Iceland revere even today. One of them is the Yolsky fire. Once it was believed that fires are driving away from the home of evil spirits in the dark of the night. Later in the fire, all the old things were burned, symbolizing the farewell to the old and the transition to the new. Now the breeding of fires is a good reason to have fun on the beach with songs, dancing in a good company of friends. Everyone can bring small garbage and burn it, observing the old ritual, it means that the house is clean, everything is ready for the holiday.

Nowadays, fireworks are more popular, which also symbolize purification from evil spirits. They look against the background of Icelandic landscapes especially beautiful. Bright lights of bonfires and amazing fireworks make the northern night lighter. It is possible at these times not to be afraid of evil trolls and other Icelandic monsters.

Signs on the day of the winter solstice

If you believe the signs, the contracts concluded on the Yol holiday, the contracts, will be the most faithful. At the end of December, namely in the 20s, Iceland has a good sign - to get a job, although it would seem that the date is not quite convenient. All the proposals that are presented during this period need to be taken without a doubt, the results will meet expectations. Love explanations will lead to a happy marriage.

The day following the solstice is especially important, it determines what will be the whole year. It is necessary to listen to everything that has been said and what is happening around. You know, this is a guessing: asked a question, and then look for the answer in an environment - what is said on TV or in a crowd of people you do not know. For example, you won a lottery on this day, without hesitation you need to bear the prize on the stock exchange, will be lucky again. But this, of course, is from the field of miracles. But if you are thinking about your relationship with the other half and suddenly in the tram saw a nice couple of old men. What do you think, what is the Celtic perfume hinting at in this case?

Divination for the holiday Yol

To test the fate, many guess on December 21. In the night, this from ancient times was woven pigtails from a variety of colored threads and before going to sleep put their creation under the pillow. Dream must come prophetic and magical.

Who had an insoluble, difficult problem, took the matted yarn and unwound it. Dexterity of fingers played a big role, it depended on how soon the tangle of problems would unravel.

The girls prepared two different logs for this night: one level, another curve with knots. They threw them into the fire. If the knotted first caught fire, then the future did not bode well, it was not worth getting married this year. If a smooth log lit up brightly, then the girl would meet a nice guy who would become a caring husband.

Of great importance people betrayed dreams on these thirteen nights, each of them could portend the events of life.

The acting conspiracy

The conspiracy and fortune telling on the Yule feast have a huge mystical power, so many resort to them in our modern world. So far, many make an amulet and utter a conspiracy to attract money. It requires nine coins, six green candles, a copper tray (or any shiny), a piece of green silk and a dry basil. On the tray you need to create a circle of candles, put coins on its middle, light candles and say a conspiracy: "With this day, I come, spills a golden rain on my money. The sunshine comes and riches come to me! ". Candles need to be pushed together so close that the wax drips onto the coins. Let the candles burn to the finish. After the wax has hardened, cut it from the tray with the coins and sprinkle it all with a dry basil. The amulet must be left in such a place that light falls on it during the day. He must lie down there day and night. After that, wrap everything in a silk shred and hide it in the cache where you store the documents. Many believe this ritual, and, perhaps, such a silk scrap is found in many Icelandic hiding places.